The Snake Charmer
by TheAnswers
Summary: After parting ways with his friends, Brock finds himself beginning his own journey anew. And, with any luck, his love life will take a change for the better as well. Post D/P. Brock x Lucy.
1. Chapter 1

**The Snake Charmer**

"Hey, gimme a piece of that!" Shouted a young boy, no older than six, as he tried desperately to grab something in the hands of a little girl.

"No way!" The girl replied harshly, holding what looked to be a hot dog over her head and out of reach of the boy. "I bought it, it's mine!" The girl and the boy both had matching bright blue hair, which drew the conclusion that they were siblings, with the girl being maybe two or three years older.

The scene soon became a curious attraction on a crowded street in Saffron City. It was around midday, and the business men and women who were on there way to lunch had stopped to watch the two kids fight it out over a hot dog. There was a hot dog stand nearby, presumably where the girl got the hot dog, and the owner as well as his customers had stopped in their tracks to watch the nearby scene play out.

"Come on, sis, I'm starving!" The boy retorted. The argument continued on; the two siblings seemed completely oblivious to the fact that there were more than a few onlookers watching them.

"I told you, no. If you want one, go buy one with you're own money!" She said definitively.

"I just want one bite!" He replied, growing even more desperate.

In a last-ditch effort, the boy lunged at the food, but even then, he couldn't reach high enough to grab the food in his sister's outstretched hands. All that he was able to accomplish was knock his sister off balance, and that was all that was needed to send her sprawling to the ground, and the hot dog along with her.

"Monica, I'm sorry, I didn't..." The boy sputtered pitiably, looking at the hot dog, which was now out of its bun and rolling on the street.

"Now look at what you've done!" The girl shouted before a tear began to well up in her eyes. "And that was my last dollar..."

The scene suddenly became awkward for the silent onlookers, and the crowds quickly dispersed as if nothing had happened. But there was one onlooker in particular who decided to help out.

Quickly running over to the girl to help her up, Brock asked, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine." She replied as she brushed the dirt off of her clothes.

"I hope you two learned something from this." Brock said quietly. "Arguing without listening rarely solves any problems."

"I'm sorry, Monica." The boy said ashamedly, looking at his feet the entire time.

The girl averted her eyes, but she also said, "I'm sorry, too."

Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out one dollar, which he held out for the girl to take. As she took it, he said, "Here, go buy yourselves another one. But this time, each one of you gets one half."

The boy's face instantly lit up. "Gee, thanks, mister!"

"I'll go farther than that." A mysterious voice said from behind Brock. Brock turned to look, and it turned out to be the middle-aged hot dog stand owner, and he had two hot dogs in his hands. "In this limited time offer, I will give you these two hot dogs for that one dollar. How does that sound?"

The boy's head nodded fervently, and after his sister had given the dollar to the shop owner, he accepted his hot dog graciously. The boy began to run off down the street, but the girl stayed for a second longer. She took her hot dog from the man, then turned back to face Brock. She blushed lightly, then turned her back and began to chase her brother without another word.

"That was a mighty kind thing you just did, son." The shop owner said with gusto. "Here, come with me. I'll give you a hot dog, on the house."

"Thank you kindly, sir, but no thanks." Brock said distractedly. "I have got to get going."

"Aww, that's too bad." The man replied. "Well, come back anytime, if you get a chance. You'll always be welcome here."

Brock nodded, and with that, the man returned to his stand, where the growing line was becoming impatient. Brock then started to walk in the same direction that the girl and her brother had gone, but they were no longer in view. They had turned down one of the side-streets already, and Brock was left to think. Try as hard as he could, he was never able to get a girl of his own age to like him, but with a simple gesture, he had drawn the attention of a girl that was more than a few years younger than he was. It was depressing really, but Brock could not help but feel amused at the same time.

The mid-afternoon sun was glaring daggers down on him, and it was with great relief that Brock finally reached the shop he was looking for. He stepped through the front door and his entire being welcomed the cool air-conditioned room that the shop had to offer.

"Welcome to the Breeder's Haven. Is there anything I can help you with today?"

Brock shook his head to the entrance clerk, who was a few years older than he was. "No, thank you. I would just like to see your Pokemon food ingredients."

"Certainly." The man replied. "You'll find them in the back of the store, on the ground floor."

Brock nodded and walked back to the area that the man had indicated. The store itself was huge but the sheer number of people made it hard to move anywhere, but Brock had expected this coming in. This shop was well known as the best breeder's shop in Saffron City, and was up there in prestige with the likes of the shops on Breeder's Lane. He knew that this place would be crowded, but if it was even only half as good as it was hyped up to be, waiting through the crowds would be well worth it.

The store itself was humongous. It housed three floors of Pokemon food, ingredients, toys, grooming tools and supplies, and anything else that a breeder could possibly want. On the uppermost floor, there was a salon that offered Pokemon massages and haircuts. This area was so crowded that it was by reservation only, but Brock had no interest going there anyway. Brock had become adept enough to groom his Pokemon himself, perhaps even better than the trained professionals here could do it.

When Brock reached the ingredients area, he noticed that it was somewhat less crowded than other areas of the store. He knew this to be because many of the shoppers here weren't actually breeders. They came for the pre-made food, for they could not make it themselves. Brock was thankful for this as he approached a jar of spices on the wall and gave it a whiff.

He instantly recognized this as something that Pikachu would surely enjoy, but this deduction only brought sorrow. It was only a few months ago that Brock had said his final good-byes to Pikachu as well as his good friend, Ash. Thinking about these two, as well as Misty, May, Max, Dawn, and the other friends he had met along his journeys, was still hard for him. But leaving them was something that he had to do. After all this time following and helping his friends achieve their own goals, it was time to pursue his own.

Brock distractedly searched among the ingredients and spices for ones that his Pokemon would like, and grabbed a bottle or two of anything that fit the bill. When he was finally satisfied that he had enough to last all of his Pokemon a good, long time, Brock placed all of it in a bag and carried it to the front counter.

"Quite of bit of ingredients you have here." The cashier said as Brock dumped out what he had onto the counter. "Would you like any instruction on how to create your own Pokemon food?"

"Yeah, I have a lot of Pokemon to feed." Brock replied. "And no thanks, I know what I am doing. I am in training to become a great Pokemon breeder."

"Good luck, my friend." The man said and he rang up all of the items on his cash register. "If you ever need anything else, our shelves will always be stocked."

Brock nodded, and soon after, the register flashed a total amount on the cost of the ingredients. He reached into his pocket and placed the specified amount of money onto the table. Brock grabbed his bag of supplies as the man took the cash and said, "Have a great day!"

Brock muttered, "You too." as he turned his back and left the store. Once outside, he carefully placed the ingredients into his backpack and began traveling once more. The sun was rapidly setting by now so it was not quite as hot as it had been earlier, but it was still unpleasant, so he decided to go find somewhere to pass the time. The activity in the street had died down to a very slow pace; everyone had finished their days at work and had returned back home to their family. This time of day was certainly his most lonesome since he had parted ways with Ash and the others, for now was about the time that they would go have a nice bite to eat at the Pokemon center before heading to bed for the night. It isn't easy to eat alone, and its even harder to sleep alone.

The Pokemon center seemed less than welcoming at this point, given the sad reminders, so he decided that he would go find somewhere else to eat on this night. The city was huge, surely there had to be some good restaurants around here. In fact, Brock had only walked a few paces before he noticed a sign that looked promising. It was a tavern of some sort, but the sign out front advertised some delicious-looking dishes.

With a shrug, Brock opened the door and decided to give it a try. The inside was not much to look at, but it was quaint and full of small television sets and, most importantly, relatively uncrowded. The room had a distinct country feel, despite being located in the middle of the biggest city in Kanto. The tables were all circular and made of wood, and they occupied most of the floor space. In the back was a bar that spanned the entire rear wall. There were no windows except for the ones on the front wall, as the building was surround by buildings on every other side, but the walls were lined with pictures and paintings of various outdoor activities: fishing, hunting, and the such.

"I'll be right with you, sir." A young waitress called out when Brock entered the room.

The waitress was very attractive in her own right, but Brock did not even notice her. A few seconds after he had entered the room, he noticed a familiar figure sitting at the bar at the front of the restaurant. It was Lucy, the Pike Queen of the Battle Frontier, her unique, two-colored hair clearly distinguishable even though he could not see her face.

Any form of reason was lost at this point as Brock's heart jumped into action. "My darling Lucy," Brock exclaimed as he approached her, seemingly unaware that he had drawn the stares of several other people in the restaurant. "Words cannot express-"

Brock had planned to say something very romantic for this fortunate occasion, but Lucy cut him off before he even got the chance to. "Unless the next words out of your mouth are a quick good-bye," She said, sounding exceedingly angry. With that, she turned from the bar to face him, but upon recognizing his face, her anger seemed to quell a bit. "Oh, it's you." She said simply. She offered no further explanation, and instead turned back around to face the bar.

Brock felt the great urge to go grab her hands and continue his offering, but something told him that if he tried to touch her in her current state, he would end up on the floor with a broken nose. It was encouraging, however, that her memory of him seemed to be a positive one, and not just for the reason that she didn't bite his head off for disturbing her peace.

Instead, Brock sat down at the stool next to her and said, "Lucy, what's up? Is there something wrong?"

At first, it seemed as though she had not even heard him. She took a drink of some strange-colored liquid that she had in her glass and stared silently off into space. Finally, after a long moment or two, she replied simply, "I'm fine."

As if he needed more clarification, Brock was now even more sure that there was something going on. "But-" He said quietly.

"Fine." She repeated forcefully, before he even got a chance to make his point.

"Alright, alright." Brock said quietly with a small sigh. With that, an awkward silence developed between them, which was only broken when the bartender showed up to ask what Brock wanted.

"Just a glass of water, thanks." Brock replied to the bartender. He had completely forgotten the fact that he hadn't had a bite to eat since morning, mostly because his stomach was churning butterflies at this point. Brock struggled to find something to say, but he was at an utter loss for words. Flirtatious by nature, the words always seemed to just come naturally for him. Now, however, was not the time for his usual flirting. Lucy was angry or annoyed for some reason, and although the reason for that was unclear, she would most likely lash out on him if he gave her any reason to.

The bartender returned a moment later and put a glass of water down on the bar in front of Brock, and Brock nodded his thanks. As Brock reached out to grab his glass, he could feel Lucy turn her head to look at him for a second or two.

"Where are the others?" She asked indifferently, before turning around again to take a sip of her drink as well.

"Huh?" Brock asked distractedly. "Oh...well, we decided to part ways."

"A shame." Lucy said shortly after she had swallowed a sip of her drink and put the glass back onto the bar.

"Yeah, I suppose." Brock murmured lightly. He looked up and began to watch the television that was hanging nearby, if for no other reason than to hold his attention. It was a baseball game between two teams that he had heard of from somewhere, but he was not very interested in it and he did little more than pretend to watch it.

"What are you doing in a place like this anyway?" Lucy asked after a few minutes.

Brock stirred in his thoughts and faced Lucy. She had been looking at him but she quickly averted her gaze when he turned. "I don't know. What's wrong with a place like this?"

"Well, nothing wrong with it..." She replied. "But, well, it is here people come to drink their troubles away. And you never seem to ever have anything troubling you."

"Is that why you are here?" Brock asked hopefully.

"Careful." Lucy snapped. "You are treading on dangerous ground now."

"Sorry." Brock said with a frown. "I just want to help."

"It's alright." Lucy replied with a light sigh. "I know, but it would be better for the both of us if we just drop the matter entirely right now."

"Alright, I understand." Brock said lightly. He watched as she stared at her drink glass, apparently deep in thought. He silently wondered what could be troubling her, but he knew better than to ask again. Instead, he said, "So, I really look like I have nothing troubling me, huh?"

"It always seems that way." Lucy replied tartly.

"We all have our troubles, and I am no exception." Brock explained, and after a moment, added, "And you would be surprised just how easy it is to deal with them when you have a friend's support."

Lucy took a final sip of her drink and promptly slammed it back onto the table. "Alright, I'm out of here." She hissed, and with that, began to rise from her seat.

"Wait, no, Lucy!" Brock exclaimed after he realized what he had unintentionally implied. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Stay...please."

Lucy seemed firm in her intentions at first, and Brock felt that he had just screwed everything up again. But the two locked eyes as she began walking, and slowly, she came to a halt. And, after a moment or two, she even turned back around and took her seat once again. She begrudgingly did so, and she said nothing more, but Brock felt extremely thankful.

"Thank you, Lucy." Brock said with a sigh. "And sorry."

Lucy grunted in reply, and said nothing more. Brock, again, found it hard to think of anything to say, so he turned to man behind the bar and said, "Hey, bartender, another drink for the young lady, on me."

The bartender grabbed Lucy's empty glass and disappeared into the back of the restaurant. "Brock...thank you, but I've had enough for tonight."

"Oh..." Brock sighed, feeling slightly disappointed. "Well, that's alright, I'll just have it, then."

"I don't think-" Lucy started, but at that moment, the man reappeared from the restaurant's storeroom and placed the drink onto the table. And, despite Lucy's forewarnings, Brock grabbed the glass and took a sip of the strangely colored liquid.

His throat instantly clenched up at the taste of the drink, and most of what he put in his mouth ended up back in the glass. It was rather tasteless, but his entire mouth went numb on touch. The entire experience was rather hard to describe, but it was no pleasant one. As Brock's incessant coughing continued, he heard Lucy laugh lightly. _At least something good came out of this_, Brock thought as he tried to regain his composure.

"Strong, isn't it?" Lucy asked humorously as she gave him a small smile.

"You could call it that." Brock replied sarcastically. "What exactly is that?"

"Its a drink that helps numb your body." Lucy explained. "Its good for relaxing a troubled mind and body, once you get used to the taste."

Brock nodded, feeling that this was a pretty accurate description. At present time, it was only his mouth that felt numb, but that was probably because he only managed to swallow a couple drops before spitting the rest out.

A sudden thought passed through Brock's head. "Lucy, is this drink, you know, legal...for me?"

"What do you-?" Lucy asked quizzically. "Oh, yeah, you're fine. It's a drink for all ages. This restaurant is family-oriented. And besides, we are around the same age anyway, and you saw me drinking it."

Brock nodded and smiled, but he soon got the grotesque image of a small child drinking this...whatever it was. Shaking the image from his mind, he proclaimed, "Well, so much for that. I guess this drink will go undrunk."

Lucy smiled, then said, "Hey, Brock?"

Brock turned to face her and noticed that she was blushing lightly. "Yeah?" He said.

"Let's go for a walk."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After he had covered his tab to the bartender, Brock followed Lucy out of the restaurant and back into the nearly deserted streets of Saffron City. He had spent a lot of time inside chatting with Lucy, and as a result, found that the setting sun that was present in the sky when he entered the restaurant had been replaced with a dark sky full off bright stars. It was a beautiful night; the clouds in the sky were few and far between, so the view of the stars was almost completely unobstructed, although the tall buildings of Saffron City did shield the sky somewhat. The moon, crescent shaped and shining brilliantly, was clearly visible off on the distant horizon.

Apart from the two of them, there were very few people on the streets. It was late at night, so this was to be expected, but it was still a bit unsettling. Most of the people who were still in the streets were alone and walking quickly to their destinations. Others were huddled in small groups and talking quietly. None of them seemed dangerous, but at the same time, Brock could not help but feel unnerved slightly. He had traveled at night dozens of times before, but never in the city. The times he did it before were always in the woods or on the road somewhere, where all that was around him was nature and Pokemon. And, as he had come to realize, Pokemon were much more trustworthy than humans.

But Lucy did not seem at all disturbed by the other people in the streets, or if she did, she did not show it. She had already started walking off in one direction down the street and seemed to take for granted that he would follow her, for she did not stop to wait for him or even look back. There was a cool breeze that gave Brock the shivers, but Lucy did not even seem to be bothered by that, despite wearing her usual, very revealing outfit.

Brock hurried to keep up with her short, quick strides, a task that was easier said than done. "What's the rush?" He asked humorously as he tried to match her stride-for-stride.

She shrugged almost imperceptibly but offered nothing else in the form of an answer, and continued walking on in silence. A minute or two of silent walking passed before Brock tried again. "Where are we going, anyway?" He asked.

Again, she shrugged, but this time, she added, "Do we need to be going anywhere in particular?"

"Well, no," Brock replied hesitantly. "I suppose not."

Silence, once again, fell between the two. The only noises that could be heard were their light footsteps on the stone streets and the sound of flapping wings as a flock of Pidgey flew overhead. His heart was still racing at the thought of spending more time with Lucy, but his mind was beginning to have doubts. Impressions rarely tell the whole story, but to Brock, she seemed as though she was genuinely disinterested. And if that was the case, perhaps it followed that she only allowed him to come with her because she intended to use him for something.

In any case, Brock followed on in silence, his head clouded by these murky thoughts. He had long lost track of their position within the city, having taken many turns down other streets. The big city became something of a maze to him, but Lucy seemed to know where she was going. Or, at least, he hoped that she did. _"Not like it really matters, I guess."_ Brock thought as he frowned, and then he gave a small sigh to the silent night air.

The silence remained until a quiet, high-pitched cry rose to meet his ears. It was very faint and muffled, but it was coming from somewhere nearby. If Lucy could hear it, she showed no evidence of it and continued to walk on, but Brock decided that he would check things out. They were in the process of walking past a park in the middle of the city, and it was quite clear that the noise was coming from somewhere in there. Brock walked to the edge of the street and approached a hedge that was on the edge of the park, listening closely the whole time. The bearer of the cry was clearly frail, and was only able to produce very weak wails, so its cry was very quiet. But, even so, Brock knew that it was nearby, perhaps just on the other side of the bush.

Brock looked back to Lucy, who did not seem to notice that he was no longer following her and was rapidly getting farther and farther away. Perhaps it was a sign. If she truly wasn't disinterested, she would come back. Then again, if he left her here and never saw her again, it would be the greatest regret of his life.

Upon hearing one more cry from behind the bushes, Brock knew where his priorities lied. He quickly wedged his way through the large hedge, ignoring the many pokes and prods from various twigs in the hedge for the sake of helping out whatever lied behind the bush. After much effort, Brock arrived on the other side of the hedge and soon noticed that he had nearly stepped on that which he was intending to help. It was a young Pidgey, writhing on the ground and in noticeable discomfort. The only times that it stopped letting out its cry for help was when it paused to fill its lungs with more air. When it had noticed Brock, its cries grew louder and more desperate, as if it thought that Brock hadn't heard its cry the first hundred times. Even when Brock bent down to gently scoop it off the ground, the Pidgey's tension appeared to heighten, although its cries did begin to die down somewhat.

With no street lights in the park, however, the night completely engulfed the Pidgey in darkness. And, as such, it was impossible for Brock to find out what was wrong with the small Pidgey, let alone treat it. With that in mind, Brock began to work his way through the hedge again while cradling the Pidgey in one hand. With any luck, the lamps out on the street would provide enough light for him to help the Pidgey. But, if he could not, he would have to find somewhere that was open at this hour to provide the light that he required, perhaps a Pokemon center.

However, it was not the Pidgey that was on his mind when he emerged out of the hedge and back onto the street. Brock's eyes instantly shot down hopefully in the direction of the street that Lucy had been walking, only to be dismayed by the fact that she was nowhere in sight. She had continued on without him. Surely she must have noticed he was gone by now, right?

Brock heart instantly went numb, as if it had been consumed and replaced by an empty void. After all his past failures, he had finally been given a chance, and he ruined it. He was about to let out a yell of frustration when a cry from the young Pidgey woke him from his trance.

After trying to shake Lucy from his thoughts, Brock looked around for the area that had the most light. He noticed an area on the other side of the street which seemed perfect for his situation; it was a bench that had a street lamp nearby on both sides, so it got adequate light and it would be a comfortable place to work as well. He walked over and took a seat at the bench, taking care to make sure the Pidgey was as comfortable as possible. After he was sure that it was comfortable physically as well as mentally, he released it and allowed it to move freely on his lap. The Pidgey was surprised at this gesture, but it remained still and watched as Brock removed his backpack and searched in it for his supplies. He took out a couple potions but since he did not know exactly what he was dealing with yet, that was all he removed.

"So, what's wrong with you, Pidgey?" Brock asked lightly, talking more to himself than to the Pidgey itself. And for good reason, too, as the Pidgey simply looked at him questioningly and chirped quietly after Brock asked the question. Brock gently began to inspect the Pidgey, and quickly noticed that it was one of its wings that was causing the problem. Its right wing was badly damaged, housing a few open wounds. It was the obvious source of the Pidgey's discomfort and also the reason it could not fly at present time. Brock also came to the realization that this Pidgey was probably park of that flock of Pidgey's that he had heard passing earlier. But it had somehow sustained this injury, causing it to separate from the flock and come to the ground in Saffron Park.

Brock grabbed one of his potions and held it in front of the Pidgey's wing. "This is going to hurt a little, Pidgey, but it will help out a lot in the end."

The Pidgey stared back blankly, obviously unable to comprehend what Brock said again. But that was probably for the better, given the discomfort that lie ahead for the injured Pidgey. As soon as Brock sprayed the medicine onto the affected wing, the Pidgey cried out in obvious pain. It began to squirm in an attempt to get away but Brock held it down and gave the wing another spray of the medicine. This further intensified the Pidgey's desperation, and it began to peck Brock's hands in its displeasure. But the results of the potion were rapidly taking effect. Brock only had to endure a minute so of the Pidgey's furious pecking before he saw that the wounds were beginning to heal and close up. The Pidgey continued its pursuit to get away from Brock's clutches for a few seconds longer before it realized that its wing was feeling much better. Brock, slowly but surely, removed his hands from the Pidgey and allowed it free movement once again. It tested the mobility of its injured wing and seemed pleased with the results, for it chirped happily.

From that point on, the Pidgey acted much more friendly toward Brock. When Brock reached down and offered his arm as a perch, the Pidgey happily accepted and perched itself on Brock's forearm. Brock raised his arm so that the Pidgey was on eye level with him, and he carefully checked its wing to make sure that it had healed properly.

After convincing himself that the wing was indeed on the correct path toward recovery, Brock began rummaging through his bag in search of food that the Pidgey would like. "Bet you are hungry, huh?" Brock asked lightly as he did so, while also trying to keep his arm as steady as possible for the Pidgey's sake. The Pidgey chirped happily and soon, Brock found the container he was looking for and pulled it out. Brock had many food containers in his bag, and to the unobservant eye, they certainly would all look the same. But Brock had long since memorized which container contained which food by noticing the subtle differences, and he was able to instantly recognize which container housed the food best suited for flying-type Pokemon. After finally removing the lid, which was no easy task since he could only use one hand, he reached in a pulled out a few pieces and offered them to the Pidgey.

The Pidgey looked down at the food in Brock's outstretched hand and carefully bent down and bit into one with its tiny beak. It was unsure at first, but once it had eaten the first piece, it chirped happily again and instantly bent down to eat what was left in Brock's hand. Once all the food was, Brock used his free hand to scratch the Pidgey's back feathers lightly and it chirped appreciatively.

"Don't worry, little Pidgey." Brock said quietly. "You'll be just fine."

"What's wrong with it?"

Brock's heart soared as he instantly recognized the voice. It was Lucy, she had returned after all. Brock tried to contain his extreme joy as he hurriedly moved his bag out of the way to give her room on the bench. Lucy took the now-vacant seat on the bench and stared at the Pidgey questioningly.

"It injured its wing somehow." Brock replied lightly. It was a struggle, but he resisted the urge to look into her beautiful eyes, and instead focused on the Pidgey, as she did. "I think it will be fine, though."

Brock, now speaking to the Pidgey, asked, "How's that wing feel, Pidgey?"

Brock began to move his arm around in an attempt to urge it to take flight. Pidgey seemed to understand what Brock was trying to convey, and it began to flap its wings. It managed to lift off of Brock's arm and hoover for a few seconds, but its movements were clearly unnatural and it soon tumbled down into Brock's lap.

"That's alright." Brock said encouragingly. "Your wing is still a little tense. A nice massage should do the trick."

The Pidgey chirped in appreciation as Brock began to gently massage its injured wing with the tips of his fingers. The wings certainly did seem tense, and given the magnitude of the injuries that the Pidgey had sustained, that fact really came as no surprise. But after a couple minutes of light massage, Brock could feel the muscles in the wings becoming less tense and, as a result, stronger.

Brock could feel Lucy's eyes on him as he gently massaged the Pidgey, but he was no closer to figuring out what to say than he had been back before he met this Pidgey. But this fact no longer bothered him. What this whole endeavor had taught him was that it was just her presence that he wanted.

After a solid ten or fifteen minutes of massaging the Pidgey, Brock finally felt confident that its wing was nearly back to full health. "Go on, then." He said as he urged the Pidgey to take flight again. "Take to the sky."

The Pidgey began flapping its wings again, but this time, it was able to rise off the ground with ease. It chirped with extreme pleasure and began to fly joyous laps around Brock's head. Brock laughed as he tried to follow it with his eyes, but he only ended up getting dizzy. Finally, after a good couple of minutes, the Pidgey settled down and perched itself on Brock's shoulder. Lucy smiled lightly and rubbed the underside of its neck lightly, to which the Pidgey chirped happily.

Brock smiled and looked at the Pidgey, which he had grown quite attached to, for a couple of minutes. "Well, I think it time for you to get back to your flock." Brock said quietly. "You've been away too long as it is, and I am sure that they are waiting for you."

At Brock's urging, the Pidgey finally jumped off of his shoulder. But even then, it began flying around in front of him, and seemed to have no intentions of leaving.

"I'm going to miss you, too." Brock said quietly. "But you belong with your family and friends. That's something that I can't give you. Good-bye, little Pidgey."

Brock would have liked to attribute Pidgey's change of mind to his parting words, but Pidgey did not seem to understand human speak, so that was quite unlikely. In any case, the Pidgey began its departure soon after Brock had given it his final good-byes. It seemed almost reluctant to do so, but it must have remembered about the flock, about all of the other Pidgey's that it had been separated from. Brock watched it as it climbed higher and higher until it was no bigger than a star in the night sky.

"You are really good with Pokemon." Lucy said quietly as Brock continued to gaze off into the night. "Many trainers spend years trying to build a bond with their Pokemon as strong as the one you just created with that Pidgey."

Brock smiled softly but he offered nothing in reply. He slowly began to pack up the potions and food that he had taken out of his bag earlier. Once he had done so, he put on his backpack once again and stared off into the night, his mind full of thought.

"Well?" He said a couple of minutes later, moving to the edge of his seat. "Shall we get going, then?"

But Lucy did not move from her seat, and instead shook her head hesitantly. "Let's stay here for a little while longer." She said quietly.

Brock smiled as he shifted back in his seat and got comfortable once more. As much as he enjoyed walking with Lucy, sitting with her was a whole lot more enjoyable, and less stressful too. But as fun as it had been spending all this time with her, the fact remained that it was getting very late at night now; or, rather, very early in the morning. Midnight had come and gone some time ago, and a new day had already begun. And although Brock did not notice it, or perhaps was just too distracted to care, his body was rapidly starting to feel the effects of fatigue.

But there was something in the air that kept him completely awake, and it did not take much thought on his part to figure out exactly what that was. The scene had steadily grown more and more romantic until the breaking point where his resolve could no longer contain his nature. Without consciously being aware of what he was doing, he slowly reached out with his hand and tried to grab one of Lucy's hands, which were laying, folded together, in her lap.

At first, he thought that she would not take kindly to the action, so he noticeable flinched and closed his eyes, bracing himself for some sort of retaliation. But, much to his surprise, Lucy reacted in a way which was quite the opposite of what he was expecting. She reciprocated his action by opening her hand and allowing him to take grasp of it, and followed by interlacing her fingers with his.

Brock could hardly contain his joy at the outcome. It was this moment that he had envisioned since he had first laid eyes on her earlier that day, but now that he was in it, he was utterly unsure what to do next. He glanced over at Lucy for some kind of reassurance, but she remained as expressionless as ever. Her face was blank as she stared off into the night, apparently deep in thought.

Brock was unsure how long they sat there together in silence, but he to imagine that it was a while. He was beginning to worry that his hands were sweating, but without bringing attention to Lucy, he did not have any way to check. But if he was, Lucy did not seem to either notice or care. She had not made a single move since they had joined hands, a fact that did not really worry him but it did catch him slightly off-guard. And, as a result, Brock found himself also staring off into the night, and he took this time to think as well.

The streets of Saffron were completely deserted by now, there was not a soul in sight in any direction. The chilly, early morning air was becoming too much for the lightly-clothed Brock. He tried to contain his shivering, but at times when a particularly cool or heavy breeze passed by, he was unable to do so. He almost felt envious of Lucy in that respect; she was wearing even less than he was and she still didn't seem to feel the effects of the elements.

Then, completely out of the blue, he heard Lucy say, "Thank you, Brock."

Brock could only feel mildly amused as he looked back at her. "For what?" He asked, a look of genuine bewilderment plastered on his face.

She blushed lightly and turned away from him to look off into the night once again. "For...everything, I guess." She replied quietly.

Brock smiled but he didn't know what more to say. What could he say? 'You're welcome'? Saying that seemed almost cynical, seeing as he had reached the end that he had been hoping for, too; for that matter, he should be thanking her. Instead, he rose his arm over her head and around her shoulders. She responded by sliding closer to him and leaning over so that her body rested on the inside of his chest. And, soon after, she laid her head down gently and allowed it to rest on his head. Their hands were still laced together, but since Brock arm now rested on her shoulders, their hands hoovered together over Lucy's chest.

They sat together like that for a while, silently enjoying each others' company, until Brock was overcome with a sudden thought. "You still haven't told me what was troubling you earlier." Brock said quietly.

Lucy was absorbed in thought for a couple of minutes, and Brock began to think that she may avoid the question entirely. She had been quite adamant in her refusal to tell him earlier, perhaps that thought process had carried over despite their changed relationship. But, after another minute or two, she muttered, hardly louder than a whisper, "It doesn't matter now."

Brock said nothing more but gave her hand a slight squeeze affectionately. Whatever it was that had been bothering her, he had somehow resolved it by simply being with her. And though his human curiosity nearly drove him to insanity in his desire to figure out exactly what it was, knowing that she was happy again was more than enough to put his mind at ease.

Hours past where they would occasionally talk, but mostly, the two sat together in silence and took comfort in each others' presence. It wasn't until the sun started to peek over the horizon that fatigue finally got the better of them, and they each drifted off into a dream world while their bodies stayed behind, cuddled together in the real world.

Overhead, a flock a Pidgey's passed by, perhaps the same flock that had come by the night before, and they chirped their song to announce the new day. As the sun rose higher and higher, the streets steadily filled with people once again. And, unbeknownst to the slumbering couple, they drew the stares of many of the people who walked by, who perhaps found it odd that they would choose a dirty, outdoor bench as a place to sleep.

But even if he had known, Brock would not have cared. He was deeply asleep but he was dreaming of the real world, of getting the chance to spend another day with the girl of his dreams. For even though he could be anywhere and do anything in the dream would, there was nowhere he would rather be right now than cuddled in a warm embrace with Lucy.


End file.
